


Starry Eyes and Shadows

by the9muses



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And a little Fitzsimmons, Big Sister Bobbi Morse, Bobbi has weird dreams, But an interdimensional one, Daisy needs sleep, F/M, HuntingBird, I don't even know how I got here, Jemma Simmons has been eaten by a space rock, Kid Fic, Season/Series 07 Spoilers, This was going to be all about Huntingbird, Time to write a new outline, Wow this story is not going how I planned it, You Have Been Warned, also, and Hunter is chasing Ward, and very little sleep, but good coffee is a perfectly fine substitute, but now it's really all about Bobbi, child fic, desperately, honestly I'm just having a plot crisis in these tags, just being awesome, meanwhile Fitz is having a mental breakdown, oh right, oops just changed the entire plot again, that involve children, there may or may not be some torture, this is what happens instead of season three
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the9muses/pseuds/the9muses
Summary: Bobbi has been having strange dreams. Of course, she always has strange dreams, but these are... different. Every time she closes her eyes, a little girl appears. A little girl who calls her Mama. A little girl who looks exactly like the girl in a photograph she found lying around.As her search for answers throws her life into greater and greater chaos she makes a series of disturbing discoveries that will change her life forever. And not necessarily for the better.
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 65
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know how I came up with this story. But it happened somehow. So here we are. Enjoy!
> 
> Okay. I'm writing this having just finished season 7. When I started this I had not watched season 7, aaand... I may have accidentally stolen some plotlines. So. Don't be surprised if there are similarities XD

Bobbi was falling. Faster and faster, her hair whipping around her face. And yet there was no sound, only a weightless feeling in her stomach and the feeling of wind rushing past. The world was silent and dark, and the black threatened to engulf her. She tried to call out, but no sound escaped her lips. 

She was falling, and then she wasn't. She was floating now, surrounded by nothingness. And there was nothing, no one, until there was. A little girl, almost familiar, her smile brightening the blackness. She looked at Bobbi, and her eyes lit up. And then she was running towards her and throwing herself into Bobbi's arms. Calling her Mama. But the little girl weighed nothing. Felt like nothing. And it chilled Bobbi to the core. Something was wrong. Something was so, so wrong. As if reading her mind, the little girl looked at her in concern, and then reached toward her and patted her cheek.

"It's okay, Mama," she said solemnly, "It's gonna be fine. You just have to promise you'll find me." Bobbi opened her mouth to respond, to tell the girl she wasn't her mother, to ask what she meant, to say she couldn't promise, but all she could do was take a quick breath, and then another, and then the little girl smiled at her and vanished. And the blackness was crushing Bobbi, and the weight of it was pressing down on her shoulders, and she couldn't breathe.

And then she woke up, gasping for air, reaching for Hunter instinctively. But his side of the bed was cold. He wasn't there. He was off chasing after Ward, and she was alone. Her hands fumbled across her bedside table until they landed on the small, metal ring. She clutched it, the edges digging into her palm, sharp enough to hurt. Her breaths came in short, quick gasps, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She sat, and she breathed, and she waited until the world felt right again.

Once she'd done that, she checked the clock on her bedside table and sighed. It was only 3 AM, and however tired she might have been, it wasn't like she was going to end up going back to bed any time soon. She'd been having the same nightmares every night for a week, and she hadn't been able to sleep after any of them. So she switched on her light and grabbed the book on her nightstand. It wasn't the most interesting book, and she was too tired to read, but it was a distraction, so she tried.

After ten minutes of trying to read, a considerable amount of loud noises and a crashing sound interrupted her. Her S.H.I.E.L.D. training kicked in, and Bobbi jumped out of bed and ran to the door, fiddling with the doorknob for a couple of seconds in her exhausted haze before actually managing to open it. Running, she followed the noises down to the lab. Clearly, she hadn't been the only one who'd heard the noise, as it contained multiple confused SHIELD agents wearing pajamas. The sight of Coulson in Captain America pajamas came very close to making her laugh, but then she saw what had made the noise and the smile quickly dropped off her face.

The lab was a mess, broken glass and mangled equipment strewn everywhere. In the center of it all was Fitz, looking heartbroken and furious, surrounded by the remains of another failed attempt to get Simmons back from wherever that godforsaken stone had taken her. She shouldn't have left him alone in the lab last night. But she'd been tired, and there'd been a lot on her mind, and she hadn't been thinking straight. And now the lab was in ruins. It looked like a hurricane had struck it. Mack walked over to Fitz and kneeled next to him, talking quietly, with Daisy close behind. Bobbi stepped over to Coulson.

"I'm sorry, sir, I shouldn't have left him alone in here. I should have known better."

"It's not your fault," Coulson responded, watching Mack, Daisy and Fitz with concern, "It isn't anybody's fault." Bobbi swallowed and nodded.

"It just feels like I could be doing more to help him." By now it was more likely that he was just searching for a body, but no one wanted to admit it. Especially not Fitz, who stood steadfast in his belief that Jemma Simmons was still alive and waiting for them to rescue her. Bobbi still wasn't sure whether he was delusional or the only sane one out of all of them.

"Trust me, Bobbi, we all feel like that." But what could they do? Fitz was the genius, all the rest of them could do was watch as he tried and tried and tried to get Simmons back. Not that anyone besides her was keeping track anymore. Not that Fitz was telling anyone besides her when he had a lead, and that was only so she could lie for him. Bobbi spent more of her time in the lab covering for Fitz than actually doing anything useful. It had gotten tiring quickly, but if it ended up getting Simmons back she would do it a thousand times more.

Bobbi turned her attention back to Mack and Fitz and Daisy. They seemed to have finally convinced Fitz he needed sleep and were pulling him up, hugging him, and guiding him over the wreckage of the lab to get him to his bunk.

"Should I help get the lab cleaned up?" Bobbi asked Coulson, "I mean, I am supposed to be working in it tomorrow."

Coulson shook his head. "No, we have people who can do that, and you shouldn't be doing that much heavy lifting anyway," he said, pointedly looking at her knee.

"Like I've said many times before, Director, I'm perfectly capable."

"Well, you aren't cleared for combat yet, so no. You should go back to sleep." Bobbi gave him an annoyed look, but after assessing the damage, she realized there was nothing more she could do. So she walked back to her bunk and climbed back into bed.

But something was still nagging her about her dream earlier. That familiar sense when she'd seen the girl. She stayed in bed for all of thirty seconds before getting back up again and going to her wardrobe and opening the top drawer. She rifled through it until she found what she was looking for. It was a picture. She'd found it in the lab about a week ago, and had thrown it into her drawer, resolving to find out whose it was later. But now, as she looked at the photo, she realized why the little girl in her dreams had been familiar. This was her. The same blonde hair, the same hazel eyes, the big smile on her face. Bobbi's blood ran cold. This wasn't possible. There was no way that this was possible. There was an explanation for this, there had to be. Maybe her subconscious had remembered the image, and she'd started dreaming about it. That was it. That had to be it. Anything else would be crazy. She looked down at the image for a little longer, and then threw it back into the drawer and climbed into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Again only just over one thousand words! Whatever! Enjoy!  
> Also, does anyone know what that room they all hang out in is called? I just went for rec room but I feel like it's something else...

When Bobbi got out of bed the next morning, the lab was blocked off. Given that her entire job at the moment revolved around the lab, it looked like she wouldn't have much to do today. So she grabbed her book and headed to the rec room. Opening the fridge, she scanned it for anything that might be an acceptable breakfast food. There was pretty much nothing, so instead, she just started making coffee. 

When it was finished, she sat on one of the stools, reading and absentmindedly sipping the coffee. After a little while, Daisy walked in carrying her laptop. She put her laptop down on the counter, grabbed Bobbi's coffee, and took a sip.

"There's a coffee machine right behind you, Skye-sorry, Daisy."

"Well I only wanted one sip, not a whole cup," Daisy said. "Actually, that's a lie. I desperately need coffee. I was up until one doing some stuff for Coulson, and then I only got a couple of hours of sleep before Fitz destroyed the lab, and then I spent the next few hours after that talking to Fitz." 

"Well, I think there might be some left from when I made it if you want that." Daisy jumped up and looked in the coffeepot.

"Barbara Morse, you are my savior." Bobbi laughed.

"Good to know. But don't you dare call me Barbara ever again."

"Noted. I won't call you Barbara if you get better at remembering it's Daisy now," Daisy said, giving Bobbi a Look.

"I'll try harder, Daisy, I promise."

"You're pretty good at it already, actually. It's mostly Coulson who keeps slipping up," she sighed, taking a large gulp of coffee. "Oh, this is good coffee."

"I haven't gotten enough sleep since I was recruited for S.H.I.E.L.D., so I learned how to make good coffee to balance it all out. And, Daisy, about Coulson. He's used to Skye. It might take a while. I can promise he'll get it eventually, though," Bobbi said, and Daisy smiled gratefully. And took another sip of coffee.

"I will never get enough of this coffee, Bobbi. You need to make this again tomorrow."

"Sure" 

Daisy responded by taking yet another sip of coffee. Watching her, Bobbi realized something.

"Hey, Daisy, could you help me with something?"

"Sure!" Daisy said. 'What is it?" 

"I'll show you, I'm just gonna grab something first. Be right back." She got up and jogged to her room quickly, grabbing the photo from her drawer and going back to where Daisy was sitting, still drinking her coffee. Bobbi handed her the picture.

"Ooh! Is this one of your baby photos?" Daisy asked excitedly, and Bobbi shook her head.

"No. I have no idea who that is. That's what I need help with. I want to know who that girl is." Daisy nodded, looking down at the photo.

"Are you sure that isn't you?"

"Positive."

"Do you have any other images or just this one?"

"Just this photo."

"Well. I have some stuff to do, but I can try to get this done by this afternoon, probably. And I'll only do it if you promise to make me coffee for the next week."

"Oh come on!" 

"It's the price of my work."

"Fine. Fine. Thank you." 

Daisy gave her a triumphant smile, and then jumped off her seat and walked off, coffee mug and laptop in hand. Bobbi watched her go and then turned back to her book.

That afternoon, Daisy came up to her looking perplexed. 

"Hey, Bobbi, about that photo you gave me... where the hell did you find that?" Bobbi gave her a confused look.

"Just sitting around. Why?" 

"Because I have no clue who that could be. It might have something to do with the fact that it's a little kid, but there is always the possibility that she, like, doesn't exist. I couldn't find  _ anything _ ."

"Doesn't exist? Is that really possible?"

"I don't know. It is possible to completely erase someone from all government files and records- I've done it before -but it seems unlikely that such a little girl would have had someone do it to her."

"Okay. Thanks for trying,"

"You're welcome. And you still have to make me coffee for the next week."

"I know," Bobbi said. Daisy gave her a vaguely evil smile.

"Great. See you tomorrow at 4 AM!" She turned to leave, but then spun around again. "I almost forgot! Fitz wants to talk to you." She turned to leave yet again. this time Bobbi stopped her.

"That's great. But where is he?"

"Oh. Right. He is in the lab."

"The lab is blocked off."

"Not anymore," Daisy said.

"But I walked past it maybe 5 minutes ago," Bobbi said, and Daisy shrugged.

"Well, it's open now. And Fitz wants to talk to you. So." 

"Okay. Thanks, Dais."

"Your welcome," Daisy said, and then walked off for real. Bobbi went to the lab, and it was indeed open. She found Fitz standing at one of the counters, and he looked up when she came in.

"Bobbi. Good. I need to go to Morocco tomorrow." Bobbi's heart sunk. He was doing this again. It had barely been 24 hours since his last failed attempt, and here they were again.

"Fitz."

"If Coulson asks, tell him... tell him... I don't know, you're good at lying, right? Figure something out."

"Fitz."

"Oh, and if I'm not back in 10 days, I'm not coming back, so don't wait for me."

"Fitz."

"Yeah?" 

"Are you okay?" Fitz nodded. Bobbi could tell he was lying, but she didn't press him. There was no point anymore. "You sure?" He nodded absentmindedly, and Bobbi's heart broke just a little more. 

"Get her back for us," she said and hugged him quickly. He didn't say anything. He just gave her the fakest smile she'd ever seen and walked away. Understandable. She did that every time he left to follow another lead, and he had very likely grown tired of it. 

Bobbi was about to leave the lab when a flash of color caught her eye. It was another image, lying on the floor. It was the same girl.

This time, though, she wasn't smiling. Instead, she was frowning at the camera, the complete opposite of the other photo Bobbi had found. Bobbi could see the resemblance now, between her and the little girl. The frowning helped. She stared down at the photo, looking at it from every angle, examining every inch of it. And then she went to go find Daisy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! This update is a little early but I finished writing the chapter early and just decided why not.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! :)

She found Daisy sitting in her bunk, typing furiously on her laptop. She started when Bobbi came in and shut her laptop.

"Hey! Uh, what do you want?" she asked, biting her lip and giving Bobbi a bright smile that looked very forced.

"I was just wondering if another photo of the girl might help. I found another one."

"Oh, that might help, yeah. Could I see the photo?" Bobbi walked over to Daisy and handed her the photo. "Well, if she exists, this will be helpful. Thanks, Bobbi." Daisy put the photo down and opened her laptop again.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just some stuff for... Coulson. Yeah, he wanted me to do some... some stuff for the inhuman team that we're working on." She was lying. It was pretty obvious. But Bobbi did the same thing she always did with Fitz and said nothing. She gave Daisy a smile and walked away.

A few hours later Daisy came back, shaking her head.

"Sorry, Bob, I got nothing."

"Did you call me Bob? No one calls me Bob"

"Hunter calls you Bob all the time."

"Yeah, but that's different."

"Yeah, cause he's your boyfriend," Daisy said with a smirk, and Bobbi raised an eyebrow.

"Teasing me for having a boyfriend? Are you 13, Daisy?."

"Well, I am 23. But fine, I won't call you Bob again. What about Barb?"

"Why exactly do you want to give me a nickname?"

"I don't know. I don't know. Bobbi is too long."

"Bobbi and Daisy are the same length. They even have the same number of letters."

"Ignore all logic, Bobbi, and accept that your name is too long."

"I think you need more sleep," Bobbi said. Daisy was acting much happier than she normally was. It was a bit odd. Sure, you could chalk it up to lack of sleep making her giddy, but Bobbi wasn't sure that was it.

"I agree. Anyway, sorry I couldn't find anything."

"It's fine. I'll... I don't know what I'll do. I'll figure something out. Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome... Barbie?"

"Oh, hell no. Please just call me Bobbi, Daisy."

"Oh, fine," Daisy said, before turning and leaving.

Bobbi spent the rest of the evening in the gym and her room doing nothing. It was a nice change, not being cooped up in the lab. She spent too much of her time there trying to fill the gap that Simmons had left, and it was tiring. She wasn't nearly as brilliant as Simmons was, and Simmons also meant so much to Fitz. It was virtually impossible to replace her. But Bobbi still tried every day. And she hated it, but there was nothing else she could do. So she just kept on trying.

Once she was back in the field, which, seeing the way everyone had been treating her lately, was not soon, things would be easier. But then Fitz would still be alone, and she doubted any of the lab assistants were capable of making sure he didn't kill himself in an explosion. There was the astronomical chance that he would get Simmons back, but that was so unlikely. It had been more than six months, and even Coulson was starting to suggest that Simmons might not be coming back. Fitz never listened. Not once. It was admirable, but also quite worrying. If he never came to terms with reality there was no chance that he'd ever move on.

But then again, Bobbi knew that if Hunter went missing and there was still even the slightest chance he was alive, she'd tear the world apart searching. Although, if Hunter went missing, it would likely be because he'd done something idiotic and someone had decided to kill him. No one had any reason to kill Simmons. She was too sweet. Pretty dense when it came to Fitz, but sweet all the same. It was hard to imagine anyone wanting to kill her. It was also hard to imagine a rock swallowing her. Bobbi's tolerance for the supernatural had risen significantly since joining SHIELD, but a giant human swallowing rock was almost too much.

It took her a while to get to sleep that night. Her mind was running in circles, and she couldn't keep her eyes closed. But eventually, she was too tired to keep them open, and she fell asleep.

She dreamt of the little girl again. This time she wasn't falling. She was in a room with blindingly bright walls, a stark contrast to the blackness of her last dream. There was a small figure next to her, lying on the floor, turned in the other direction, unmoving. Bobbi kneeled next to her and reached out her hand, placing it on her shoulder and shaking her lightly. The girl stayed where she was, sleeping. Or... Bobbi checked to see if she was breathing. She was, thank god. She sat there, watching the little girl sleep.

And then the girl sat up straight and looked at Bobbi and said, "It hurts, Mama." Bobbi opened her mouth to respond and was surprised when sound came out.

"What hurts?"

"Everything," the little girl said, and it was only then that Bobbi noticed how red her eyes were.

"Who hurt you?"

"The scary men," she said, eyes wide and luminous, brimming with tears.

"Who?"

"The scary men."

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about."

"You will," the girl said, in complete seriousness.

"What do you mean?" she asked. The little girl just looked at her. "What do you want from me?" The girl didn't say anything. "Okay. Let's start easier.

What's your name?" The girl thought for a minute. "Do you... do you know what your name is?" She nodded.

"Lira."

"Alright, Lira, how old are you?"

"You said I was 4 before the bad guys got you."

"Wait, what?"

"Before they got you. You remember."

"No, I'm sorry, I don't think I am who you think I am."

"But you were there. The bad guys had a thing that made a loud noise and you fell over and Daddy shouted but then they did the same thing to him and brought me with them." Bobbi inhaled sharply. A gun. She was talking about a gun. And Lira's parents... they were dead. That was obvious enough.

"Are you real, Mama?" Bobbi started.

"What?"

"Are you real?"

"I'm the one dreaming, you're not the one who's supposed to be asking that." Lira shook her head.

"I'm the one dreaming, Mama."

Bobbi looked at her. "We can't both be dreaming the same dream. Sorry, sweetheart, but this is my dream." Lira's face crumpled.

"You aren't real." Bobbi just gave her a confused look.

"I just said I was the real one." Lira looked like she was about to protest, but instead just... stopped. She froze in place, completely immobile, for a minute. And then she started again.

"I'm sorry, Mama, I have to wake up now. I miss you." And she was gone, and Bobbi was in her room, and it was dark, and it was too early in the morning. It was like coming up for air after being underwater for a long time. That dream had been so real, and it scared her. That little girl had felt real when she touched her.

She was losing her mind. There was no other explanation. She was going crazy. Either that or the universe had made some enormous mistake somehow. Bobbi didn't have a daughter. That was something that would be pretty hard to forget. But now she was doubting even that, and it was not helpful. How the hell could you give birth and raise a child until she's five and then not remember? The simplest truth was that her mind was playing tricks on her and making up some really wacky shit.

But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself it was all fake, there was still a little voice in her head, wondering, whispering; _what if?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I know nothing about genetics. So a lot of the stuff in this chapter is just me grasping in the dark because I can't google in-depth stuff about inhuman DNA and I have no friends who could make slightly more educated guesses.  
> Anyway.  
> Enjoy! (again, a bit of an early update, but whatever)

Bobbi got up the next morning with a bad headache and spent the day in a haze, forgetting things and dropping them, turning around to find it had been ten minutes, not ten seconds. She got a few worried looks from the various people working in the lab, and she ignored them. At lunch, she forgot the word sandwich and confused Mack for ten minutes trying to explain what she'd forgotten. Coulson asked her twice about where Fitz was, and she didn't realize until it was too late that she'd given two different answers. Daisy seemed equally out of it, too. Dark circles were forming under her eyes and every time Bobbi talked to her she seemed to lose track of the conversation a couple of minutes in. 

Bobbi snapped out of it, though, when Daisy offhandedly remarked on a discovery she'd made, something Bobbi had asked her to do. 

"Um... Daisy?"

"Yeah?"

"You're talking to me. To Bobbi." Daisy's eyes widened, and her mouth opened a little bit. And then she dissolved into laughter.

"Oh my god, Bobbi, I'm so sorry. I have not been able to form a coherent thought all morning. Sorry. So, I found something on that little girl. Not sure you're going to like it, but I did find something."

"What is it?" Bobbi asked, curious. Why wouldn't she like it? All she wanted was answers, she didn't care if the girl had died two thousand years ago. 

"I found a picture matching hers. In some encrypted files," Daisy said.

"Encrypted? By whom?"

"By S.H.I.E.L.D.. Or Hydra. I can't tell, exactly."

"What do you mean, you can't tell?"

"I mean that the code they used to encrypt the files was a S.H.I.E.L.D one that also happened to be used by Hydra once or twice. And there's nothing identifying which one it is, so it could be either."

"What do the files say?"

"I didn't actually read them. I'll just send them to you."

"That works. Thanks, Daisy."

"Yeah. You're welcome," Daisy said, "Anyway, bye. I'd like to stand around chatting, but I've got stuff to do. See you later!"

"Bye, Daisy," Bobbi responded, and Daisy did a little wave thing and walked off.

Bobbi grabbed her laptop from her room and found the email from Daisy. Her heart beating faster than normal, she opened it. The first thing that came up was simply a page with the words Project M.I.R.R.O.R. The next page had a picture of Lira, with a name and date of birth underneath it. Her name simply said Lira, no last name, and her date of birth was October 13th, 2010. So she was five, not four. She clicked to the next file, which looked to be some kind of health record, and then the next file, which was something like a log. She couldn't tell. So she started to read.

_10/29/2014: Testing going well. The subject has finally decided to comply with authority. Asks for her parents often, but when told they are dead, she vehemently denies and says she has "seen them in her dreams." We are still trying to determine exactly what she means by this._

_11/1/2014: The current test we are running shows that her DNA contains many similarities to those of an inhuman who has gone through terregenesis, yet when we showed her a video of terregenesis she was very confused and said she'd never even seen anything like it. This leads us to believe that in her reality humans either have a very different cell makeup or a way of transforming Inhumans that does not involve the process of terregenesis. If she is inhuman, she has yet to reveal her powers._

_11/4/2014: When asked about her home, she lights up and talks for hours at a time, describing in detail everything she can. From these talks, we have gleaned that her world is very different than ours. Neither SHIELD nor Hydra operates in the shadows as they do here, instead they are both out in the open, competing for the best, most promising students in a very public way. She had just started kindergarten, but apparently, recruitment processes had already begun, and much of the day was spent learning about the pros and cons of each choice. The subject's parents were both S.H.I.E.L.D., though when asked for their names, she said she did not know. We were unable to run a DNA test as according to our studies, her genetic makeup is incredibly different than our own and it would be impossible to do a regular test. We are currently working on a test that would make that possible._

Bobbi stared at the screen in shock. This was from over a year ago. And they were referring to her as the subject, running tests on her... And these reports were implying that she was from a different world than them. It was almost too much to process. And her DNA was different? What was that supposed to mean? She skimmed through a couple more reports, none of which were very interesting, but she kept reading. She was going to read them all, she decided. Every last one of them, until she had at least a faint idea of who Lira was, of where she might be, of who the evil men might be. Sure, there was one every 3 days, which ended up being 125, but they were pretty short. She could get through them.

There were a couple of reports saying that the work on the DNA test was progressing nicely and that Lira was responding nicely to attempts to befriend her. There were a couple from a scientist who had no idea what they were doing, and a few from someone who made it quite obvious that they did not like children. Bobbi almost laughed reading those. Only once was Lira referred to by name. Every other time it was just "the subject", and a few times it was "the girl". 

Reading some of them was like reading a summary of Lira's life. Whoever was writing some of these was good at getting her to talk. The reports went on well for a little while, and then Bobbi got to a horrifying one, from a few months ago.

_6/12/2015: The leader in charge of project M.I.R.R.O.R. had shifted. Agent Parsons has grabbed control, and believes the child should not be treated as anything other than a test subject. I am writing this report without permission, as I have been fired and am currently leaving the building. I worry that the child is in grave danger, and I urge anyone who might read this to investigate the project further._

Bobbi scanned through the reports from the next few months frantically, trying to find anything from the same person that had written it, but it was only clinically cold documentation of testing and questions and something that could be classified as torture. It was almost painful to read. She was only a little girl. And she'd been locked up for a full _year_ with these people experimenting on her. And they'd taken her forcefully, too. There was no doubt in her mind that this was Hydra. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't always make the best call, but they would never do anything this awful. And besides, she had a pretty high clearance level. She would have heard of this. Probably. Maybe. 

She shook her head, erasing that thought. There was no way S.H.I.E.L.D. would do anything like this, especially not with Phil Coulson in charge. Plus, she'd never heard of Agent Parsons.

She read through the last few, not expecting to find anything interesting. But then she came to the penultimate one, the date saying it was from a week ago. It started pretty much the same as the others, but then it took a turn. A very interesting turn.

_11/8/2015: Subject has continued to comply, and is in perfect health. She is currently sleeping._

_We have recently perfected the DNA test, and we have started the process. We will have the results in 3 days._

Bobbi clicked to the final file. This one had two images attached, but she resisted clicking on those and instead read the paragraph above it.

11/12/15: _Subject has continued to comply, and is in perfect health. She is currently awake and sitting on her cot, singing to herself._

_The DNA test has come back with two definite matches, IDs attached below. We are quite pleased with the results. Bringing the matches in to see if they, a, recognize the girl, and b, have the same unusual DNA as the subject seems to be a logical next step._

Bobbi's mouse hovered above the first image attached. She didn't want to click on it, but she so desperately did. She swallowed, bracing for something. She didn't know what exactly she was waiting for, but it felt vital. 

She sat there for another few minutes, trying to get herself to click on the image. Every time she went to do it, she paused just before, and she was driving herself crazy.

Bobbi clicked on it. Forced herself to click on it. When she saw what the image was, she jumped back in shock, and the laptop fell off of her lap. She swore and picked back it up. She stared at the picture, uncomprehending. It was her old SHIELD ID. It was her face staring back at her. _It was her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what MIRROR is an acronym for, besides the first two letters. So I have to figure that out.  
> Please comment and leave kudos! :)  
> Thanks for reading!  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been at least two weeks since I last updated. I've got a few excuses, there was some stuff happening, school, anyways, here's the update at last. From now on I'm going to update every four days. Possibly less. I've got about six million more fic ideas now though, so that's good.  
> Enjoy!

There was no explanation for the image on the screen. Not a single one. Bobbi was out of ideas. None of it made sense. A million thoughts cycled through her brain. It was impossible. You can't forget giving birth to a child. That was not something you did. Her hands shaking, she clicked away from the first image and to the second one. She did have an idea of what that one would hold, but all the rules of the universe had just been broken, who knew who the other match could be.

But her guess was right. It was Hunter in this photo. So all the rules were broken, but at least that was safe. She clicked out of that photo and back to her own, trying to figure it all out. _How the hell was this possible?_

There was the implication that Lira was from an alternate reality, but it was pretty clear that her DNA was quite different from the average human's. Bobbi had perfectly normal DNA. She wasn't even Inhuman. And neither was Hunter. So this wasn't possible. None of it was possible. She closed her eyes and tried to make sense of it all, but all that did was confuse her even further.

Her door opened and she started, dropping her laptop once again. It was Mack. She gave him a sheepish smile and picked the laptop up, closing it and placing it beside her.

"What is it?"

"Fitz found something. On Simmons"

"Fitz finds something every other day. Tell me exactly why this is different."

"Because this might work."

"Wait. Wait, really?"

"Yep." Bobbi jumped up.

"Do you need a pilot?" Mack shook his head.

"We don't need to fly anywhere. Everyone's in the lab."

"But Fitz is in Morocco."

"Not anymore." Bobbi stopped thinking about Lira. Suddenly all she could think about was Simmons. She raced to the lab, Mack following her, only to find that it was, for the second time that that week, destroyed. Her heart sank. And then she saw it. One wall of the lab was black. Black and shiny and liquid and rippling. Her mouth dropped open.

"What. The. Hell," she breathed. Mack just shrugged. Fitz, Daisy, and Coulson were arguing closer to the wall, and Bobbi walked towards them.

"No. We send a probe in first. We can't risk losing you, Fitz," Coulson said as Bobbi reached them.

"We don't know how long it's going to be like that. We have to do this now!" Fitz protested. Bobbi broke in.

"Hate to interrupt, but would someone like to tell me what exactly is happening here?"

"The Monolith. It did something." Fitz said distractedly, and Bobbi raised her eyebrows.

"Well, that answers all my questions."

"About ten minutes ago it just kind of happened. We don't know why," Daisy said to Bobbi.

"Which is why," Fitz said, staring straight at Coulson, "I need to go in there right now."

"How do you know this will take you to Simmons? And how do you know you'll be able to get back?" Bobbi asked.

"We don't," Coulson responded, "which is why we need to send a probe in first.

"Fine!" Fitz said, his voice louder than normal. "But if there's even a chance that we can get to her, I'm going in." Coulson nodded.

"But first the probe."

"Yeah," Fitz sighed, and then turned to Bobbi. " Bobbi. Good. You know where the dwarves are. Go grab one for me?"

She did what he asked, grabbing one and bringing it over. They all watched as he set it up, attaching a cable to it just in case. He flew it through and they all huddled around the screen displaying the feed from the camera. That is, they watched a flash of blue and dust and heard a quick snippet of a voice before the screen turned to static. And the portal began to close, spiraling inwards like a snake.

"No, no, no, no," Fitz muttered, fiddling with buttons on the control panel. He looked up and noticed the closing portal, dashed towards the black, and Bobbi lunged forward to hold him back, to stop him from diving headfirst into it. Her hand just barely brushed his shirt before he was gone. The portal was still closing, getting smaller by the second until Daisy thrust out her hand and froze it where it was. Bobbi could see how much effort it was taking to hold open, and she knew there was limited time. But there was nothing she could do, once again. That seemed to be a recurring theme these past few months. Nothing she could do, nothing that would work, nothing that would help.

Her fingers twirled in a familiar motion, itching for her batons. Missing the familiar feel of her hands wrapped around metal, missing the illusion of control they brought. Helplessness was not a feeling she enjoyed.

But now there was just the slightest glimmer of hope, more than there had been in forever. And yet it disappeared when Daisy gave out and collapsed, falling backward towards Mack. The black crumbled to ash, forming a pile. They watched the pile, waited with bated breath for something, anything. A rustling noise came from it, and Fitz sat up, ash falling off his head. And Simmons sat up behind him.

They both looked like they'd been through hell, covered and dust and cuts, but they were there, and they were alive. Simmons coughed a couple of times and looked around. Bobbi's smile was so wide she thought her face was going to break. Simmons began to smile too, and Fitz stood up, pulling her with him. Soon everyone was entangled in a group hug, laughing and smiling, and there was a little crying, too. Simmons was back. It was impossible, but here she was. Alive and whole and home. 

After a few minutes, the group seemed to collectively realize that they had important things to do. It wasn't like they cared, though. No one wanted to leave Simmons. She didn't look that great, if Bobbi was being honest. She looked fragile, like she could break any minute. She looked uneasy and tired, worn, on edge. But she was still smiling. Bobbi had to hand it to her, she was a much better liar then she had been when they'd first met. Bobbi was good at reading people, though. She smiled back anyway.

"I can take care of her," Fitz said at last, and everyone else exchanged knowing looks and left the two alone. No one was about to deny them some alone time.

Bobbi glanced at Coulson and thought about the files on her computer. He would know if Project M.I.R.R.O.R was a S.H.I.E.L.D program, right? Well, there couldn't be any harm in asking, she decided.

"Coulson, have you heard of Project Mirror?" she asked as casually as she possibly could.

"Yeah. It was going to happen—we had a cool acronym and everything—but we didn't have enough money."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes."

"What was the acronym?"

"Multiverse Initiative: Reaching and Researching Other Realities."

Bobbi's heart started beating faster. This was very interesting information.

"You're sure it didn't happen?"

"100% certain. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. I found some old files and was curious," she lied, and then immediately regretted it. It probably would have been easier just to tell the truth. She shouldn't have lied. 

She banished the doubt from her mind. That had been happening a lot lately, which was not ideal. Her job was lying, she couldn't be regretting every lie she told. "So, do you think Simmons will be alright?"

"I don't know," Mack responded. "Who knows what happened to her out there."

"She's got Fitz. They can figure it out," said Daisy. It was true. Fitz and Simmons could figure anything out together.

"Well, I've got some stuff to sort out, so I'm going to leave you here," Bobbi said as they reached her room, and stepped inside it, going back to her laptop. She stared at it for a few seconds before plugging it in and setting it aside. Staring at those images wasn't going to get her anywhere. She was going to wait for Hunter to get back to think too hard about this. He could... he could help her figure it out. Or he could just sit next to her until she figured it out. Or he could just come back. This was not something she was going to do alone. 

Of course, all her plans were shot to hell the next day when Melinda May showed up at the base with bad news. And without Hunter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is there anyone else in the AoS fandom who's also in the Hadestown fandom? Like I need someone to rant to about both Huntingbird and Wait For Me! Does this even exist? (an update: This totally exists. I just didn't know anyone in the fandom yet XD)  
> Also, sorry about the fact that this chapter was more focused around Simmons and less that cliffhanger but I had to get that in there.  
> Please comment and leave kudos!  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all. I made a mistake. Like a big one. I've been rewatching previous seasons until season 7 is on Netflix so I can watch it, and I watched Parting Shot. So now I cannot function. Yaaay. Plus Black Widow was delayed AGAIN. Excuse me while I go scream into the abyss.

The next morning Bobbi was woken up by a sharp rapping on the door. She groaned and rolled over, wishing for all the world that she could sleep for just a few more minutes. The knock persisted, though, and eventually, she dragged herself out of bed and answered the door. It was Daisy, with a smile on her face. 

"What could you possibly be so happy about this damn early in the morning?" 

"It's not that early. And May's back!" 

"Great. Now can I—"Bobbi stopped. "Wait. Wasn't she working with Hunter?" 

"Yeah."

"Well, is he back too?" Daisy bit her lip.

"Uh, no, Bobbi. I'm sorry."

"Does she at least have news?" 

"Yes, she does have news," Daisy confirmed, and then stood there, not saying anything.

"... What is it?" Bobbi finally asked after a long pause.

"We're going to have a meeting to discuss it. Right now."

'Where?"

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Daisy," Bobbi said, closed the door, and got dressed before heading to Coulson's office. May was standing next to Coulson, everyone else spread out in front of them. Bobbi couldn't contain the smile on her face at the sight of both May and Simmons, but that smile quickly faded when she saw the look everyone, most of all Mack, was giving her. 

"What wrong?" Everyone was silent, and suddenly Bobbi knew.

"What happened to him, May? Did Ward get him? Or someone else?" 

"I didn't say anything," May said.

"You didn't have to. Where. Is. Hunter."

"I don't know." 

"You don't know? What the hell does that mean?" Bobbi spat at May, cursing herself for being so emotional. 

"It means he's gone, Bobbi. I have no idea what happened to him. He was either taken or—"

"Or he left," Bobbi finished, her mind kicking into high gear. Was it really likely that Hunter would just leave? He had promised he would come back, not that long ago, and Bobbi had believed him. No, he wouldn't leave. So that left only one option. "He was taken."

"Bobbi, we can't—" Coulson started, but then paused, looked at May, started speaking again. "There was no sign of struggle. None."

"He wouldn't leave. He wouldn't leave  _ me _ ." 

"Bobbi. I'm sorry, but all the evidence we have so far points to—"

"I don't care what the evidence says! Hunter wouldn't do that!"

"Agent Morse—"

"Bobbi," Bobbi said out of habit, and then, "Sorry, Simmons. Keep going."

"Bobbi, I know that it might seem like we're jumping to conclusions. But you have to understand that we did as much investigating as we possibly could—"

"In the time between when May got back and when I woke up?"

"May got back six hours ago. Mack wanted to let you sleep." Bobbi turned to Daisy.

"So you came to my door with a  _ smile _ on your face and told me to come to a meeting about how my... my... about how Hunter was gone, after an investigation that was no more than six hours  _ at the most _ , that I had no part in?" Daisy sighed.

"Yeah, that about sums it up. Sorry, Bobbi." 

" Oh my god. Do you all honestly believe that Hunter would just leave like that?" May muttered something that Bobbi couldn't quite catch, and Coulson gave her a look before answering Bobbi.

"Bobbi, you know how much security we've added to the safe houses since the incident with Agent 33. Do you really think anyone could get in and out without being seen by  _ Melinda May  _ and with an extra person?"

"It could have been an Inhuman with powers like Gordon," Bobbi suggested. 

"But why would someone want to kidnap Hunter? Why not May? Wouldn't she be much more valuable?" Mack asked. Bobbi stopped for a second, considering, and then something struck her.

"I know."May raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Our daughter."

The reactions in the room were varied. There was a very loud What? from Fitz and an I'm sorry? from Coulson. May just looked the same way she always did, but with the slightest hint of shock, and Daisy and Mack both looked like they'd been told the world was actually cake.

"How long was I gone, exactly?" asked Simmons, forehead creased in confusion. 

'"Six and a half months, approximately," Bobbi said calmly, and Simmons nodded, looking even more confused.

"You... What... That... No. Nope. I... What?" Mack sputtered. Bobbi looked at all of them, in varying states of shock, and she couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

When she finally collected herself, the rest of the group looked more concerned than confused.

"Was that... a joke?" ventured Coulson.

"No, that was the hysteria finally setting in."

"So you and Hunter... have a  _ kid _ ?"

"Well, apparently yes. I only found out yesterday myself."

"That... is not how things work," Daisy said.

"Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either. I do know one thing, though. It's all related to Project M.I.R.R.O.R."

"Project M.I.R.R.O.R. was canceled," Coulson said.

"It might have been canceled, but someone still went through with it. Daisy gave me the forms."

"So  _ that's _ what that was!" exclaimed Daisy. 

"Turns out the little girl is my kid? Possible from another dimension? Again, it doesn't make much sense."

"Alright, back to what we were discussing," Coulson said, "Why would someone want to kidnap Hunter because of a kid he doesn't know about?"

"In the reports I read, they were running tests on this little girl, Lira. There was something about her genetic material being radically different from the average human's. Different enough that they were unable to run a standard DNA test on her, and had to develop one. When they ran it, there were two matches, Hunter and me, and they suggested they bring us in for further testing."

"But why kidnap him?"Fitz asked, "Why not just go up to him and say, Hey, mate, you've got a daughter. Come see her!"

"Because the people doing these experiments... I don't think they're good people. And according to the reports, they weren't the nicest to her. They were experimenting on her."

"So you think that these people, whoever they are, decided to kidnap Hunter to run experiments on him because of a daughter you don't have," May said.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Could we see these files?" Simmons asked, and Bobbi nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go grab my laptop," Bobbi agreed, and then dashed to her room and back, this time with her laptop in her hand. "Here."

She opened up the laptop and pulled up the files, letting everybody read through them. 

"Do you see what I'm getting at now?"

"You're suggesting that Hunter has been kidnapped because of a child who is a genetic match— not necessarily your child— that he has never heard of and that you have never heard of." Simmons said, sounding just a bit skeptical."

"I know it sounds crazy, guys. But it's the only explanation I can think of." The group stood in silence for a few moments, until Coulson spoke."

"It's worth pursuing, but there is still the question of how it could have happened. Bobbi, you, Daisy, Mack, and May are going to work on that, alright? And Fitzsimmons, I want you to get more information on the Monolith and where it took Simmons. Everyone got it?"

"Yes, sir," Simmons answered, and she and Fitz left. Coulson nodded at the rest of them.

"Go find out more about this kid."

"We'll have something in a few hours, " Bobbi promised.

"I hope you do. Go get to work." He shooed them out of his office, and Bobbi turned to Mack, May, and Daisy.

"Alright, what's first?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!  
> Please comment and leave kudos!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I've got another chapter for y'all!

Six hours later Bobbi was sitting upside-down on the couch while Daisy and May scrolled through the files for what must have been the thousandth time. Mack was making grilled cheese. They hadn't figured out a single thing yet, and Bobbi's brain had shut down after the first four hours.

"So are you sure there isn't more?" Daisy asked once again.

"You're the hacker. You figure it out," Bobbi grumbled, and then pulled herself back to right side up and took the laptop from Daisy. "I'm amazed you haven't figured it out already." She closed the window that they'd had open. "Also, I— Wait. This isn't my laptop." Daisy's eyes widened. 

"No, it's mine. Whatever you do, don't close the window we had open." It was, unfortunately, too late for that. Bobbi was staring at the photo of a man, on the website of some hospital. He was definitely familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd seen him until she saw the name attached to the photo. Dr. Lincoln Campbell.

"You found Lincoln!" Bobbi exclaimed.

"Uh... yeah. I did."

"You were looking for him?" Mack asked. Bobbi looked at him.

"Daisy didn't tell you?"

"She told you?" May asked. Bobbi nodded.

"I thought she told everyone! It wasn't exactly a secret— she and Coulson were considering him for the Inhuman team." 

"Wait, Bobbi, what are you talking about?" Daisy questioned. "I didn't tell you. I didn't tell  _ anyone. _ " Bobbi furrowed her brow.

"You sure about that? Because I seem to recall you asking me to help you a couple of weeks ago. And Coulson and I talked about it." 

"That never happened. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!" Daisy protested. 

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Daisy. I'm just confused. Really confused." 

"Did you contact him?" May demanded

"No, no, I haven't," Daisy reassured her. May looked unconvinced. 

"We're you going to contact him?"

"Alright, fine, maybe I wanted to contact him. But I didn't. Besides, Lincoln isn't anything like Jiaying."

"We don't know that, Daisy," May sighed, "and you don't know that either. You're Inhuman. The way he acted around you might be different than how he would act around us. You need to be more careful." 

"Fine. Alright. I'll be more careful," Daisy muttered, "but—"

"We have more important things to discuss, can we get back to that? I told Coulson we'd have something in a few hours, and it has certainly been a few hours," Bobbi interrupted.

'Do we have to?" Daisy groaned. Bobbi looked at her, disbelieving.

"Do we  _ have to _ look for Hunter? Really, Daisy?"

"Yeah, sorry Bobbi, that came our wrong. What I meant was is there any other way we can figure this out? I've been sitting in the same position for hours and I need to do something."

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"You've just been acting strange these past few days. Something is going on with you." 

"Of course something is going on!" Daisy gestured at her computer. "I thought we cleared that up!"

"It is not cleared up," May said. Bobbi glared at her.

"Not helping, May."

"I'm not trying to help. I'm telling Daisy that the matter of her trying to contact Lincoln Campbell has certainly not been cleared up."

"Oh, stop acting like you're my mom," Daisy scoffed. May just gave her a look.

"You know what we need to do?" Mack asked. The rest of them just stared at him.

"Okay, I'll bite. What  _ do _ we need to do?" Bobbi said. 

"We need to leave the base." 

"Yes," the three of them said in unison. 

"That was creepy. Anyway, why don't we head over to the safe house where May and Hunter were staying and see what we can find."

"That is a great idea, Mack. I'll go tell Coulson and we can go. Everyone good?" Daisy and May nodded. "Good. Meet me in the hangar in five minutes."

Five minutes later, they were ready to go.

"Do you want to fly or should I?" Bobbi asked May. 

"I'll fly." 

"Right, thanks." They all stepped into the Quinjet and strapped in, and May took off.

An hour later they were at the safehouse. May set the plane down a couple of minutes away from the safehouse.

"We're here."

"I noticed," Daisy muttered, and May raised an eyebrow. They got off of the plane and walked to the safehouse. It was a very tense walk. When they finally got to the house, May went through the various security protocols and unlocked a various number of locks, and they were inside. 

It looked like people had been living in it. Which of course, May and Hunter had been, but it was odd how normal it looked. it didn't look like anyone had been kidnapped, though. 

"Hunter's room is up the stairs, second door on the right," May told Bobbi, and Bobbi thanked her before heading upstairs and through the second door on the right, opening it and looking inside. She could tell that there had already been people inside it investigating. Whoever it was had been thorough, too, by the looks of it. Bobbi didn't let that deter her, though. She  _ was _ going to find Hunter, no matter what it took. For a second she paused, suddenly understanding what Fitz had been going through when Simmons disappeared, before shaking the thought off. She could think about that later. There were more important things to do now.

She combed through the room meticulously, looking in every nook and cranny, feeling the edges of drawers and knocking on walls to see if it sounded the same everywhere. But she got nothing. Absolutely nothing. The room was just a room, with no hidden compartments or secret passageways. Bobbi let out a sigh before starting again, on the off chance that she'd missed something. She was halfway through the process when the door closed behind her. Turning around, she expected to see one of the others, but there was no one there.

Or at least, there was no one there that she could see. She was probably paranoid, though. She realized she was right, though, when a hand clamped around her mouth. An Inhuman. Whoever was attacking her was Inhuman. 

She jabbed her elbow back and bit down on the hand covering her mouth as hard as she could, spinning away from her attacker, grabbing onto her batons as she did. Or at least, she tried. What really happened was, once again, nothing. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, on account of the hand wrapped around her neck, cutting off her airway. 

The door flew open, and Bobbi felt a surge of relief as she saw May standing there. The invisible hold on her neck loosened slightly, and she could breathe again. Kind of. The hand still over her mouth made it kind of hard, but it was still easier than before.

"I thought I heard something up here. You alright?" Bobbi tried to tell her that an invisible person was attacking her, but the invisible hand wrapped around her mouth forced her to nod.

"Good. I'll be downstairs," May said, and then left. Bobbi's heart sank. Well, that hadn't gone how she'd hoped.

She struggled against the person holding onto her, but it was no use. She couldn't even breathe, much less do any kind of escape maneuver. 

She was starting to get lightheaded from lack of air, and she started counting the seconds. She could hold her breath longer than the average person, but that still wasn't much time before she lost consciousness. 

The hold on her neck got tighter, and she was trying to breathe, but she couldn't, and she was cursing herself for not fighting harder, and her knee kind of hurt. And she blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)  
> Please comment and leave kudos!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you notice anyone behaving differently from now on, it's because I realized how OoC some people were acting and made a more conscious effort to make them in character.  
> Now on to the chapter!

Chapter 8

When Bobbi finally came to, she was in a small room with no windows and, oddly enough, no door. A cell. Her fingers immediately went to where her batons had been before, but they were gone. Of course they were.

She touched her neck lightly and winced. There was going to be a bruise there if there wasn't already. Looking around her cell, she stood up slowly, her muscles stiff. How had the invisible person gotten her here? They might have been invisible, but she certainly wasn't. And how had they managed to keep her unconscious long enough? It had been at least a little while, judging from the stiffness in her muscles. She pondered the questions as she looked around the room for hidden cameras, trying not to make it obvious that she was searching for hidden cameras. 

Eventually, she decided that there were probably cameras somewhere, but she wasn't going to be able to see them, so there was no point. She did the same thing to the cell that she had done to Hunter's room who knew how long ago. There was nothing. 

The only piece of furniture, a tiny cot was bolted to the floor and had no sharp edges anyway. Bobbi sighed. It was becoming clearer and clearer that she was going to be spending the foreseeable future in the cell. This was going to be fun. 

She walked over to the cot and sat on it, testing it out/ It was as hard as a rock. Wonderful. She would probably be better off sleeping on the floor.

One of the walls dissolved, and she almost jumped back in shock. Almost. She probably would have, if there wasn’t a woman standing on the other side. She stood up and looked closer at the wall that wasn’t there anymore, and realized it was a transparent barrier, and it was very similar to S.H.I.E.L.D tech. 

The woman on the other side smiled at her and said something Bobbi couldn’t hear. For a second panic rushed through her, and she considered the ramifications of losing her hearing, but then the lady shook her head and pressed a button on the tablet she was holding.

“Sorry about that, I forgot to turn the sound on. I meant to say hi. My name is Eva Grey, and I’m here to escort you to the lab.” She had a melodic voice, with a British accent that reminded Bobbi of something. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was, though.

“A lab? There’s a lab?” she asked. Eva smiled.

“Of course there’s a lab! It would be quite difficult for us to operate without a proper lab!” Bobbi stared at the woman, trying to figure out exactly who she reminded her of, and then it hit her. This woman sounded exactly like Simmons.

“Do you know Jemma Simmons, by any chance?” Eva’s face darkened. 

“Of course I know Jemma Simmons. Everyone who went to the SHIELD Science and Technology academy knows Jemma Simmons. Always top of the class, always acting like a prissy little know-it-all and talking to that insufferable boy. Everyone’s heard of Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. They’re impossible to avoid!”

“You don’t like her,” Bobbi observed, and Eva rolled her eyes.

“No one likes her, except maybe Leo Fitz.” 

“Do not talk about my friends like that.” 

“Or what?” Eva said sweetly. “You seem to have forgotten that you’re locked in a cell.” Bobbi glared at her.

“Cell or not, I could kill you in less than a minute if I had my batons.” 

“Yes, you probably could, but you don’t have them,” Eva said with a dangerous undercurrent to her voice.

“Or do I?”

“You don’t, I locked them away. Now, you might want to stop being difficult.”

“Why? What exactly are you going to do? I’m locked alone in my cell, and you and I both know it would be a bad idea to let me out with only you there,” Bobbi countered. Eva gave her a cold smile and held up a small clicker thingy. 

“Feel the back of your neck,” she ordered. Bobbi didn’t do anything. “Do it. Now. Or I’ll cut off all of your oxygen.” Bobbi slowly brought her hand up to the back of her neck, brushing her fingers across the skin until she found a tiny, hard lump.

“Alright, what is it?” Eva smiled once again and clicked the button. Awful, white-hot pain coursed through Bobbi, making her knees buckle. She fell to the floor, gasping, and then the pain receded quickly.

“You… diabolical...little... _bitch_ ,” she panted, glaring up at Dr. Grey. 

“If looks could kill, Barbara, I’d be dead. You’ve got quite the glare in you. Even more intimidating than your ex-husband when we told him we were planning on bringing you in.”

“You have Hunter.” It wasn’t a question. Dr. Grey didn’t say anything.

“Where is he?”

“That is for me to know, and you to find out.” 

‘No. No, don’t start with that. Tell me where Hunter is right now, or I swear to god, I will—” Eva cut her off by pressing the button once again. The pain was somehow worse the second time.

“All you’re doing is making this harder on yourself. If you simply comply, everything will be fine.”

“Compliance will be rewarded,” Bobbi said dryly. Dr. Grey chuckled. 

“We don’t do that here. Brainwashing is unethical and unnecessarily harmful in the long run.”

“Oh, and kidnapping and torture are completely ethical,” Bobbi noted, an eyebrow raised. Dr. Grey ignored her.

“Anyhow, I’m just going to take you down to the lab,” Dr. Grey said, holding up the little button. “ And I’ll have you know that there is a dial. What you just felt? That’s the lowest setting. So I suggest you shut up and do what I say.” Bobbi nodded, her teeth gritted. She could do that. But if they asked for information on S.H.I.E.L.D. she wasn’t going to give them anything.

Dr. Grey cautiously opened the barrier between them, holding up the clicker thing like a shield, and quickly snapped some cuffs onto Bobbi’s hands. 

“Don’t you dare try anything.”

“I’m not stupid.”

“Good.”

She led Bobbi down to a sterile white room, a copy of the lab at the base with less personality and fewer people. Dr. Grey brought her over to a door in the corner, opened it, and pushed her inside unceremoniously. 

There was another woman in the room, scrolling through something on a tablet. She saw Bobbi come in and stood up, smiling. This woman was tall, almost taller than Bobbi, with straight salt and pepper hair chopped off at her shoulder. Something about her screamed I am in charge. Don’t test me. Honestly, Bobbi could respect a woman like that. But this woman was working with people who had kidnapped her, so the time for respect was long gone.

“Hello, Barbara.”

“It’s Bobbi. Actually, it’s Agent Morse.”

“Alright, Agent Morse. My name is Yvette Parsons. How are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling? Oh, I’m wonderful. I’ve just been kidnapped and briefly tortured, so I’m great.” The woman nodded in acknowledgment.

“I’m sorry about that. We had to find you, but we didn’t want to alert anyone of our presence.”

“Sorry, who are you?” Bobbi asked. She already knew the answer, but she wasn’t about to let them know what she knew. 

“We’re an organization called M.I.R.R.O.R. It stands for Multiverse Initiative: Reaching and Researching Other Realities, and we’re dedicated to investigating alternate realities. Now, tell me, do you recognize, this girl?” She held out her tablet to Bobbi. Bobbi just stared at her.

“I’m wearing handcuffs.”

“Oh, yes you are,” Yvette said and showed Bobbi the screen of her tablet. It was Lira. Bobbi didn’t give anything away, she just shook her head nonchalantly. Yvette nodded, and then swiped across the screen, showing Bobbi another picture. It was another girl, a brunette who looked to be about 13. When Bobbi shook her head this time, it was genuine. Yvette showed Bobbi one more photo, a boy who looked to be in his late teens, and she shook her head once again.

“Interesting,” Yvette mused, and then looked up at Bobbi. “You’re completely certain that you’ve never met any of these children? Do they seem familiar?”

Bobbi shook her head. “Never seen them before.” Yvette nodded.

“Alright. Well, you might want to sit down.”

“Why?” 

“Sit down.” Bobbi did what she said, sitting on the chair that Yvette had been sitting in when Bobbi walked into the room. “Agent Morse, those are your children. Lira Morse-Hunter, and Isabelle and Ben Hunter-Morse.” 

“I don’t have kids,” Bobbi protested, still not saying anything about how she’d known this for a few days already. Well, she’d known about Lira, not the other two.

“You don’t, yes. But there are two alternate versions of you do. Or did. You are now dead in at least two multiverses, by the way.” 

“Okay then.”

“You’re taking this better than I expected you would,” Yvette said. “Would you like to meet them?” Bobbi’s eyes widened.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes.” 

“Alright,” Bobbi managed to get out. She was going to see her kids. Well, her kids that she didn’t know about until very recently. But still. _She was going to meet her kids._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I the only one who feels like I'm forgetting something every time I post a chapter? Like I wrote re-write this later somewhere and then forgot about it. Agghhh there is nothing more nerve-wracking than posting something new.
> 
> Please comment and leave kudos!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I posted this chapter and then realized that I had forgotten to write the beginning of it XD  
> I literally wrote and edited the entire thing and then forgot that I was going to write the beginning last and posted it and then realized and took it down, all the while panicking because I wasn't entirely sure if I could delete a chapter. I am traumatized.  
> If there are any spelling or grammatical errors, please tell me, I live in fear of them.  
> Anyway, let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns)

Sooner or later, Bobbi was going to explode. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest and her head was spinning and she couldn’t do this, but she had to do this. She had to. 

Yvette was walking in front of her, taking rights and lefts and rights and lefts, until they were in front of a door. Yvette turned back to her, her eyes steely.

“You need to know that this isn’t a social visit. You need to ask her questions about where she came from, and what her life was like before this. We had records, but they were destroyed and she has been refusing to talk to us recently. We need you to fix that.” Bobbi nodded, and then looked at the door behind Yvette. 

It was a plain door, relatively simple, but what was behind it… god, she didn’t even want to think about what was behind it. Yvette leaned towards the keypad beside it and pressed her finger into the 1. There was a beep. She placed her eye above the top of the keypad, and there was another beep. The door swung open to… a wall. It was a wall. Until, just like Bobbi’s cell, it wasn’t. Until the wall was gone and she was staring at the girl who had haunted her dreams, the girl from the photographs. She was staring at Lira, who had the biggest smile Bobbi had ever seen, and Bobbi forgot all about Yvette’s request. 

“Mama!” She squealed, running up to the barrier, “You came!” Bobbi didn't know how to respond. This little girl wasn't her daughter, she didn't want her to call her Mama. But she also kind of was her daughter, and Bobbi didn't mind... Everything was so damn confusing. Yvette pushed her forwards a little.

"I'll take you to the other two in a couple of minutes," she said, and then shut the door behind Bobbi. Almost immediately, the barrier came down and the cuffs around Bobbi's wrists unlocked and fell to the ground. Lira flung herself at Bobbi, so similar to the way she had in Bobbi's dream. Bobbi just barely manages to catch her, and even then she almost dropped her when she felt the weight. This kid wasn't a dream anymore. She was real. She was a real human being who was right in front of her. And it was too much, it was all too much. 

Bobbi gently set her down and lowered herself to the ground, sitting against the wall, and trying to get her bearings. 

"Are you okay, Mama?" Lira asked, and then when Bobbi didn't respond she immediately switched the subject. "Will Daddy come again? I think I made him mad last time and I don't want him to be angry at me."

"What?"

"Daddy came! But they made him leave and he didn't come back. Do you know where he is, Mama?"

"No, I don't," Bobbi responded, and Lira pouted for a second before moving on.

"But now you're here! Like you promised! I thought you'd be here sooner but you're here now!" She clambered into Bobbi's lap and smiled up at her. Bobbi couldn't help but smile back. It was impossible not to, honestly. This girl was like a walking ray of sunshine. 

But that same thoughts were echoing through Bobbi's mind, that same thought she'd been thinking ever since she'd seen her photo. 

She was not this girl's mother, and she couldn't be her mother. It wasn't possible, and it couldn't be possible. She wasn't and she couldn't and she wasn't and she couldn't. 

"Are you okay, Mama?" Lira questioned, once again, and this time Bobbi answered her.

"I'm fine." Lira smiled, satisfied, and then curled into Bobbi, wrapping her tiny arms around her. Bobbi stayed still for a few moments before gingerly wrapping her arms around the tiny figure in her lap. She wasn't really sure what to do around little kids. She'd never been around them much. Both her siblings were older, and even though they had kids, Bobbi rarely saw them. Hunter had brought up the idea of kids once or twice when they were married, but she had always shut him down. Looking back, maybe that had been a mistake.

Except shutting him down hadn't been a mistake. With her job, it would be a terrible idea. Sure, some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had kids, but all the agents she'd met who had kids were married to citizens, not other agents. That alone made it ten million times less complicated. Plus, Bobbi would have no idea how to take care of a child.

But here she was now, holding in her arms a child who was half her, and half Hunter. And she was small and warm, and she was clinging to Bobbi like her life depended on it, and at that moment Bobbi fell in love. It was impossible not to.

But god forbid Bobbi have more than 5 minutes of happiness, and just at that moment, Yvette walked back into the room. 

"Alright, girl, get off of Agent Morse. She has more important things to do," Yvette ordered. Lira stayed put, still clinging to Bobbi, and Yvette clucked her tongue. "Do I need to remind you what happens when you don't follow my orders? Get off her!"

Lira pouted but still did as she asked. 

"And get up, Agent Morse. Come with me." Bobbi pulled herself up, and let Yvette put the cuffs back on her and lead her out of the room. Once they were fully out and the door had been closed, Yvette turned to Bobbi.

"What was that? You just sat there hugging her! I told you to ask her questions!"

"She is a little kid. I'm her mom. I wasn't just going to barrage her with questions"

"First of all, you are not her mother. Second of all, I don't care how little she is. She has answers. And third of all, yes, that was exactly what I was expecting you to do. Next time, you need to do exactly that."

"You seem to have the impression that I'm working for you," Bobbi said, annoyed. Yvette scoffed.

"You might not be working for me, but unless you want me to go find Dr. Grey and ask her for that button, you will do what I ask. Now, I was going to take you to talk to the other two, but after what you've shown me I'm not going to do that. No, we have some basic tests we need to run on you. We'll do that, and maybe tomorrow you can meet the other two," Yvette said, before turning on her heel and walking away. Bobbi stayed where she was standing until Yvette looked back with murder in her eyes. "Come with me." 

Bobbi followed her to another lab. It was much bigger than the other one, but with fewer people. When she looked around, Bobbi realized there was only one other person. A man. She couldn't see him very well, as he was facing away from her and standing partially behind a shelf.

Her heart jumped for a moment, but it couldn't be Hunter. Whoever it was was much too tall to be Hunter. He turned around with a smile on his face.

"Is this her?" he asked, gesturing to Bobbi. Yvette nodded. 

"Yes, it is. Sorry I'm early, but we decided to move the tests up."

"And you just want me to do the basics, or do you want to change that too?"

"Just the basics for now," Yvette confirmed. "I'll leave her to you."

She walked out of the room, leaving Bobbi alone with the man.

"You're name is Bobbi Morse, correct?" Bobbi nodded. "Alright then. You can just sit over there," he instructed, pointing over to a table similar to the ones at a doctor's office. She did as he asked.

He walked around the lab, collecting various things, and then he brought them over to her. 

"So, my name is Dr. Paeri, and I'm just going to do a few things. Are you scared of needles?" Bobbi flinched slightly, and he nodded.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. On a scale of one to ten, how scared are you?" 

"I'm a don't bring a needle within ten feet of me, and if you do the outcome will involve serious injuries on your part." Dr. Paeri

"And why is this?"

"I thought you were going to run tests, not quiz me on my fear of needles." He chuckled. 

"Alright. Well, if you really can't take a needle, I'll go find the non-needle alternative." Bobbi bit back her protests about his word choice and nodded.

Dr. Paeri rummaged around the lab for a few minutes, and then looked back up pat Bobbi.

"I'm sorry, Bobbi, I can't seem to find it. I'm going to go pop into the other lab and see if Dr. Grey has it. Stay right there." He left, locking the door on his way out, and soon Bobbi was left all alone in an enormous lab, wondering who left a trained spy alone in a lab with no supervision. 

She hopped off the table-thing and began to look around. She didn't find anything really interesting. Until she did find something interesting. 

A body, lying on a stretcher hidden behind a counter, covered in a plain white sheet. She reached a hand out to flip the top of the sheet back, but then stopped herself. Did she really want to do that? The answer was yes, she did. So she pulled the fabric back. 

And instantly regretted it. A scream filled her throat, but she choked it back, stumbling backward and trying not to break into pieces. Lying there, very cold and very pale and very, very dead... was Hunter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you kill me, understand that it was necessary to the plot. I also have a Plan so maybe hold off on the murder for a couple chapters? Please?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a short little Parting Shot AU thing to train for the intensity of this chapter but I failed because I was too wrapped up in the angst of that to focus on the angst of this... oops. But this chapter did come out the way I wanted it to, so that's good. 
> 
> (I posted it on this site, btw. And yes, this is shameless self-promotion. Don't judge me.)

No.

No, no, no, no. It wasn’t—He wasn’t—It couldn’t—No. No, oh god, no. Bobbi stared at Hunter’s lifeless body, trying to comprehend. He couldn’t be dead. He had promised he wouldn’t get himself killed. She had told him not to get himself killed. He had promised.

And yet here he was. But it wasn’t possible. He had  _ promised _ .

He had lied.

Bobbi’s breathing sped up. Her vision tunneled. All she could see was Hunter, lying there, and oh god, he really was dead, but maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it wasn’t him, maybe it was him from some other reality, and they’d kidnapped him and run tests on him, and they’d killed him. Maybe the Hunter she knew was still alive. 

She grasped onto that thought, holding onto it like a lifeline. Hunter could still be alive, somewhere in this place. 

But she couldn’t be sure. Because she hadn’t seen him here yet. There was only one way to find out. She steeled herself and walked back over to Hunter’s body, and slowly peeled back the rest of the sheet. 

It was him. He was wearing the clothes May had described sometime the other day. It was him. 

Bobbi wanted to throw something, to scream at the top of her lungs, to break down and cry and not have to face the world.  _ Hunter was dead.  _ Dead. He was dead, and she was alone. Alone in an unfamiliar lab, in an unfamiliar building, with no idea how to escape. And Hunter was dead, and this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She wasn’t supposed to lose him yet. She was supposed to get to spend the rest of her life with him. She was supposed to get a few more years, at the very least. They had finally gotten better at being together.

And now Hunter was dead.

Through the muddled haze of Bobbi’s thoughts, one thing became clear. She needed to get out of there, or they were going to kill her too. That thought was like a breath of fresh air, something to distract her, take her mind off the body lying in front of her.

The first thing she would have to was get rid of the implant in her neck. If these people were smart, they would have added a tracker, and that was the last thing Bobbi needed. She looked around for something sharp, and her eyes landed on a scalpel. She grabbed it, calculated the risks, ignored the risks she came up with and brought it up to her neck. Quickly, she sliced through the skin just above the small device and pulled it out. She felt a trickle of blood run down her neck, warm and sticky. She ignored it. There were more important things to worry about.

With the scalpel still clutched in her hand, she ran over to the door and tried her hardest to unlock it. Who even made doors like this that locked from the outside and not inside? It made no sense. 

After a fruitless struggle with the door, she turned around and began to search the room for alternate exits. Just as she did, Dr. Paeri came in, unlocking the door and strolling in with a smile on his face. He froze when he saw Bobbi, holding a scalpel, her eyes murderous and blood running down her neck. 

“Ms. Morse? Are you alright?” 

Bobbi lunged for him and held the scalpel to his throat, digging in just enough that it hurt.

“You are going to help me get out of here,” she said. The doctor stood in silence, trembling in fear.

“I—I don’t— I don’t know how!” 

“Nice try.”

“I don’t—I don’t understand. Why are you being like this?” he asked, voice shaking. 

“I’m being like this because you murdered Hunter,” she growled. Dr. Paeri’s eyes widened.

“No! That was a mistake, Ms. Morse, we never meant to kill him!” Bobbi gritted her teeth.

“That’s supposed to make it better?”

“No, but—”

“Stop talking.” He did as she said. Just as he did, the door slid open once again, and Yvette walked in, flanked by two large men. 

“Put down the knife and let the doctor go, Agent Morse,” she said calmly. Bobbi glared at her.

“Like hell I’m going to put it down. You murdered Hunter, so I’m going to murder you.” 

Yvette laughed. “Really? Then why haven’t you killed Dr. Paeri yet?” Bobbi stayed where she was. Yvette shook her head. “Really, Barbara, you’re just making everything harder for yourself. If you simply put the knife down and let the doctor go, we can go on to the next test. You’ll even get to meet your other two children.” 

“The next test? We haven’t done the first test yet.” 

Yvette smirked. “I expected more from you, honestly. Did you think we’d just leave you unsupervised?” Bobbi stood staring at Yvette, head reeling. It was a fucking test? She’d fallen for it, so easily. And Hunter— no. She wasn’t going to think about Hunter or she was going to break down and start sobbing. “Though I do have to say you got farther than I’d expected. Using the scalpel to cut out the implant was quite smart, I’ll give you that.”

Bobbi just stood where she was, in shock. Yvette sighed and gestured to the two men behind her. “Do what you must.”

They advanced on Bobbi. “We’ll be taking you back now,” one of them said. Bobbi let them advance until they were only about a foot in front of her, and then she struck. Or she tried. There were two of them, and one of her, and they were both tall and burly. They easily overpowered her. She did manage to stab one of them in the arm with the scalpel. He didn’t even pay attention to it, though, just pulled it out and tossed it aside. 

She lay on the ground, staring up at the ceiling and not thinking about anything before they pulled her up roughly and dragged her along, following where Yvette was going. They brought her back to the cell she’d been in before. There was another door in it now, and Yvette gestured to it as she spoke. 

“That will be your bathroom. You will be provided with food in approximately three hours. I will have Dr. Grey come get you tomorrow morning for more testing. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She walked off, the guards following her, and Bobbi was left alone. She looked around, taking in the white walls and sparse furnishings for the second time. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry until she was dehydrated, scream, and cry and throw things. Instead, she opened the door to the bathroom, stripped off her clothes, and climbed into the shower. 

It was a tiny shower, and the water was barely more than a drizzle, but it felt good. She stood under the stream of water and tried to block out all her thoughts, let the water wash them away. But she’d just seen Hunter’s dead body, and the realization of that overcame her. 

He was dead, and death was forever. He was gone forever. There was no bringing him back. She was never going to see him again. He was never going to smile at her again, never going to kiss her again, never going to make a ridiculously snarky comment at the worst possible time.

It was that thought that finally broke her. The tears started falling, fast and hard, mixing with the water from the shower. Everything was too much. Hunter was dead. They had killed him. She was alone, and she had been kidnapped by evil psychopath scientists, and she was falling apart in the shower. 

Her breath came in quick gasps, and she bent over, tried to catch it, gulping in air. The world tilted, and she felt sick to her stomach. Everything was rushing in at once, just like when Ward had kidnapped her, except this was worse. So, so much worse. 

She couldn’t stand anymore, and she sat down in the corner of the shower, curled up into a ball. She was alone. Hunter was dead. She was so, so alone. 

The water shut off after a little while. She didn’t notice. She just stayed where she was, sitting in the shower, tears pouring down her face until there were none left, the same thought echoing in her mind, over and over and over.

Hunter is dead, and I am alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see your Huntingbird fluff, and I raise you Bobbi having a breakdown in the shower because Hunter is dead.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I re-read the first chapter. And I liked it. What the heck? I never like anything I write. What the fork is happening?  
> Also, I will probably not be updating until next Wednesday. (I say probably because there is the small chance I will manage to update before then)

Dr. Grey came for Bobbi the next morning. Bobbi had managed to pull herself out of the shower by then, though she’d ignored the food that had been put out for her. She was pretty sure if she ate she would just throw up. She’d spent the last night sitting on the uncomfortable cot and not sleeping. Sleeping wasn’t something she would be doing for a long time. Finally, after hours trapped in her own mind, Dr. Grey appeared. 

“Good morning, Ms. Morse! I forgot to bring your breakfast, sorry about that, but you’re not supposed to eat an hour before the test anyway. Now, you’ll need to come with me.” 

Bobbi did what she asked without complaint, letting Dr. Grey put the cuffs on her. 

“Good to see you’re listening now! Just follow me, now,” she said, and then led Bobbi down to another room down the hall. It was just like all the other, small and white. There was a chair in the center, one that looked like those chairs they have in dentist’s offices. Dr. Grey led her over to it and directed her to sit down. 

“Just sit here. Dr. Khan will be ready in a few minutes.” Bobbi sat in the chair and waited. 

Eventually, a young woman wearing a lab coat walked in. She smiled when she saw Bobbi.

“You’re Barbara Morse, correct?” Bobbi nodded, and the woman smiled even wider. “Wonderful. I’m Doctor Naia Khan. I’m going to be running a few tests. Now, I understand you don’t like needles?” Bobbi shook her head. “Well, I’m sorry, but we do have to use some. I promise it won’t hurt.” Bobbi opened her mouth to protest but then stopped. What was the point? They were going to stab her with needles no matter what she said. So she stayed quiet as Dr. Khan brought out the needle. It was long, one of the longest needles she’d ever seen, and for a second she considered fighting back. 

She didn’t. She sat there and took it. Dr. Khan had lied when she said it wouldn’t hurt. It hurt like hell.

The minute that the doctor pulled the needle out, Bobbi began to feel like she was floating. Her head was so light, and her eyelids were so heavy, and she was so _tired_. Surely if she closed her eyes everything would be better. She fought against it briefly, trying to escape the pull of whatever it was they’d given her, but she was already exhausted anyway, and she succumbed quickly. 

She was back in Spain. Back in that same abandoned warehouse, tied to a chair. Ward loomed over her, a cruel smirk on his face. For a second, his face twisted into a skull, glowing red, and then it flicked back to Ward, so quickly Bobbi wasn’t sure whether or not it had really happened. Kara stood behind him, still and silent, barely a shadow. The only interesting thing about her was the small smile on her face, mirroring Ward’s almost exactly. 

“Honestly, Barbara, I’m surprised you haven’t realized it by now,” he said, in a deep, booming baritone that wasn’t his, “given that you’re supposed to be one of the best. No matter how much you try to deny it, you are _just like me_. You are capable of everything I have done, and it won’t be long before you break. Just like I did.” 

She tried to scream, tried to tell him she would never, ever be like him, but nothing came out. Just air, empty air. He smiled.

And he disappeared. The door swung open, and Hunter was standing there, face red with anger. She only got a quick glimpse of him, though, before a gunshot rang out, and he fell to the ground. Bobbi lurched forward, jumping up out of the chair she’d been tied to moments before, and ran to him. 

He looked exactly the same as when she’d seen him yesterday, pale and stiff, and she shook him, trying to wake him, trying to bring him back. Nothing happened. 

There were tears pouring down Bobbi’s face, just like yesterday, and then the scene warped and she was in the middle of an empty, open field. The only noise was from a flock of crows flying above her. She tried to move, but she was rooted to the ground.

The ground erupted beneath her feet, and a monster burst out from it, almost knocking her over. It was big and red and tentacled and she wasn’t sure what it was. It spun in a circle until what she assumed what was its head was facing her. She stared up at it, unable to move. It swallowed her, and there was nothing. There was no sound, no light, no feeling except for air rushing past her, caressing her skin. But the silence didn’t last forever, and soon she heard the echo of words she couldn’t quite make out. The voice sounded familiar, though and she tried her best to hear it. 

“Bobbi… up now… results… incorrect...sure?” was all she heard.

“Don’t understand,” she said to herself.

“Bobbi!” the voice exclaimed, “you’re awake!”

“M’ not,” she mumbled. Her head was pounding, and it felt like she was speaking through a mouthful of marbles.

“Yeah, sorry about that. We used an experimental method to get you to sleep, and we’re still not entirely certain about the effects.” Bobbi shut her eyes a little tighter, and she heard Dr. Khan laugh. “I really am sorry. How do you feel?”

“Hungover.”

“Yeah, that pretty much lines up with what we’ve found so far. It’ll wear off in a few minutes.” Bobbi waited a few minutes before she opened her eyes. The light hit her first, and she winced, trying to adjust. After a little while, she could see again. Dr. Khan was leaning against the wall in front of her, watching her intently. 

“So, that was day one of testing. Feeling any better now?” 

“I still have a headache, but at least I can see.” 

“Okay. Take this,” she instructed, handing Bobbi a small pill. Bobbi looked down at it warily, and Dr. Khan laughed again. “It’s just aspirin. I have some water, too.” 

“I’m fine,” Bobbi said, and then swallowed it. “So, what were the test results.” 

“I don’t know yet. They’ll be here in a few minutes. They accidentally sent down the wrong files. You are certainly not Lance Hunter!” Bobbi’s felt a sharp pain in her chest at the mention of Hunter. And she’d said it so casually, too, like he wasn’t lying dead somewhere near here. Like they hadn’t killed him. She bit back the tears threatening to spring forward and plastered a smile onto her face.

“No, I’m not!” she agreed. Naia gave her a little smile in return.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Dr. Grey walked into the room, carrying a folder. She brought it over to Dr. Khan and they looked at it for a moment, talking quietly between themselves before turning to Bobbi. 

“Are you aware of your current situation?” Dr. Grey asked. Bobbi nodded.

“Yes. I’ve been kidnapped by scientists who murdered my ex-husband.” 

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean your… situation.”

“I have three children I’ve never met before, is that it?” 

“Alright, let’s assume she doesn’t know, Eva,” Naia said, and then brought the folder over to Bobbi, pointing at a diagram. “That is your DNA.” Bobbi looked at the diagram, at the double helix on the page, and then back up at Dr. Khan. 

“Yes, and?” Nya stared at her.

“And we’ve never seen anything remotely like this! First that little girl, and then you! Sure, the two of you had slightly different DNA, but they’re still remarkably similar.” 

“You lost me. My DNA is supposed to look like this.” Dr. Khan shook her head vigorously

“No, it isn’t!” 

“I have a degree in biology. I know what a DNA strand looks like.” 

Nya brought out another diagram, this one looking more like a ladder. 

“This is what the average person’s DNA looks like.”

“So you’re telling me that my DNA is messed up and I’m remembering college wrong?” 

“No, I’m telling you that from our standards, your DNA is not supposed to look like that. But from yours, it is. See, the only reason that the little girl’s DNA is so different is because she is from an alternate reality. What I am saying is that the only explanation we have for why it would look like this is that you are in the wrong place. _You are from another reality._ ”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!  
> Don't be confused if I use Naia and Dr. Khan interchangeably.

Bobbi stared at the doctor in shock. 

“I’m sorry,  _ what _ ?” she finally spluttered after a few moments of silence. 

“I know it’s a lot to learn,” Dr. Khan said sympathetically, “but we’ll help you figure it ou—” Dr. Grey stepped forward and cut her off.

“Alright, Naia, we’re not here to be nice. Ask her the questions, write it down, and then we’re done. As for me, I have more important things to do. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, and then turned on her heel and walked off. Naia sighed and turned back to Bobbi. 

“Now, we’re going to figure out how long you’ve been here. We’re pretty certain you got here recently, but we’ve still got a pretty wide range. So tell me, in the past fourteen days, have you experienced any of the following: Nausea, headaches, displaying more emotional than normal, or misremembering things.” Bobbi thought for a minute, her head still spinning, trying to clear her head.

“Um, yeah, uh. Wait—let me think. Yes. I had a headache a few days ago, misremembering, and yeah, emotion.” Dr. Khan smiled.

“I was expecting you to say something like that. From what we’ve seen, someone who switches realities will display those symptoms within the first two weeks after the switch. It goes away after a few weeks, so that means you’ve been here less than that. The switch was recent, which is good to know. We’ll know more after the tests tomorrow. Now, do you have any questions?” 

“Why? And how? How did I get here?” Naia shrugged. 

“Well, we don’t know how it happened. It might have something to do with an experiment we were doing a little while ago, but there’s no evidence of that.” 

“Well, how do I get back?” Bobbi asked. Dr. Khan shrugged.

“We have no idea. And you don’t have to worry about that.” Bobbi stared at her.

“I don’t need to worry about it? I don’t need to  _ worry _ about it? I am stuck in an alternate universe and I don’t need to worry about getting back to the one I was in before!” 

“Well, yes, but you’re going to be here for the time being, so there’s no point in worrying.” Bobbi raised an eyebrow at her, about to tell her that was ridiculous, but then something struck her. 

Hunter. 

As long as he hadn’t somehow died in the past however many weeks she’d been in here, he would be alive. He would be alive, unlike in this place. She could see him again. If she could back, that was. If she could find a way to cross dimensions. If she could get out of this godforsaken lab. And how likely was that? But god, she wanted to see him again. She began thinking, devising escape routes, trying to remember the layout of the building—at least, the part she’d seen, which wasn’t much—and trying to think about where she could find some kind of weapon. 

“Now that we’ve cleared that up,” Dr. Khan began, shaking Bobbi out of her thoughts, “I have a few questions. First off, did you dream while you were under the anesthesia?” 

“That was anesthesia?” Bobbi asked, trying to remember when they’d administered it.

“Yes, that needle we stabbed you with before you fell asleep. Have you never had anesthesia? I mean, the type we used was new, but that’s how it’s done. Or maybe it’s different where you came from. Anyway, the question?” 

“I think I did. I can’t quite remember. I think there was a field? And maybe some crows? Oh, and this monster thing.” Dr. Khan looked dissatisfied. 

“Was that it?” 

“No, I think there was more, but I can’t remember.” Naia nodded and jotted something down on her clipboard before looking back up at Bobbi.

“Alright. Second question. Did you injure your knee anytime in the past six months?” 

“I did.” 

“I need more detail,” Dr. Khan said. 

“Oh. Fractured kneecap, which was left alone and untreated for about two hours. Or maybe it was one hour? My memory of it is hazy,” she expanded, trying not to think too hard about when it had happened.

“And your lung?”

“Shot in the left shoulder.” 

“You have a very interesting life,” Dr. Khan remarked as she wrote down what Bobbi had told her. 

“That’s not even the half of it.” 

“Wow. Now, one last question. What’s your passcode to access secure S.H.I.E.L.D. files?” Bobbi found herself oddly compelled to answer the question. She knew she shouldn’t, but would it really hurt? Dr. Khan was only one person, and—

“What did you give me?” Bobbi asked. Dr. Khan grinned.

“There you go. I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out. You managed to resist the drug, too. I’m impressed!”

“It was that pill you gave me, wasn’t it.”

“No, that was aspirin. We gave it to you before that, while you were unconscious. It took a little while to set in, but it seems like it has by now. Now tell me about S.H.I.E.L.D.” 

Bobbi fought the urge to tell Naia everything she knew about S.H.I.E.L.D and managed to keep her mouth shut. Dr. Khan asked her again, and it took everything in her not to respond. 

“Alright, Ms. Morse. If you don’t want to talk about S.H.I.E.L.D, we can talk about something else. Tell me about Lance Hunter.” And then Dr. Khan had her. Because she  _ wanted  _ to talk about Hunter, and with whatever she’d been given, the urge to talk was impossible to ignore. So her mouth fell open and words began to pour out, and she found herself telling this woman everything she knew about Hunter. Bobbi told her everything she knew about Hunter, and everything she loved about him, and everything he did that annoyed her. She told Dr. Khan absolutely e _ verything _ . When she finally finished, she wanted to bang her head against the wall and shout at herself for giving away so much information. But it wasn’t like she could take anything back. Dr. Khan coughed and looked down at her clipboard.

“Um. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Morse. I guess what we gave you was stronger than I thought it was. Well, it sounds like you two had quite a complicated relationship. Bobbi nodded, trying her best not to flush. She succeeded, which was nice. “Lines up with what the little girl said. Not so much the other two, but that’s to be expected,” Dr. Khan muttered to herself. 

“So is this a normal procedure?” Bobbi asked.

“Huh?” 

“Do you normally give your test subjects truth serum?” she clarified. Dr. Khan laughed. 

“It wasn't a truth serum, it just made you more open to talking. And no, it isn’t.”

“Do you make everyone you kidnap want to tell you things?”

“You’re an elite spy, we had to take certain measures.” 

“You just got me to tell you everything about my relationship with my ex-husband and not a lot about S.H.I.E.L.D. Why is that information you need?” 

“Well, it isn’t exactly the information we need, but it is important. If we know what your relationship is like, then we can learn more about the differences in alternate realities. Now, we’ve done all the testing we need to do for today. Eva will come in soon to get you. Questions?” 

“Am I ever going to meet the two older kids?” 

“I think Director Parsons said something about next week. I can ask her for you. Anything else?” Bobbi shook her head. “Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch me explain away every single bout of OoCness in one blow!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never thought I would get to chapter 13 XD  
> But here we are!  
> Enjoy

When Dr. Grey came to get Bobbi the next day, Bobbi had a question for her.

“Who kidnapped me?” 

“I’m sorry?” Dr. Grey asked, seeming perplexed.

“There was this invisible person who suffocated me until I passed out. Who was it?” 

“One of our Inhuman team members.” 

Yikes. That was not going to be good for her escape plan.

“How many are there?” Bobbi asked casually. Dr. Grey raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not an idiot, Ms. Morse. I know what you saw in the lab. I know what Dr. Khan told you. And I know what love will drive people to do. You need to move your focus from dreaming up silly escape plans. There are more important things for you to—” She was cut off by an alarm ringing. Dr. Grey looked down at the tablet she held in her hand, and then back up at Bobbi. “Excuse me, Ms. Morse, I need to go check on something. Stay right—” She paused, looking at Bobbi inside of her very secure cell. “Well, don’t… Uh. Just don’t do anything. I’ll be back soon.” She looked back down at her tablet, and then almost ran out of the room. Bobbi sighed and sat down against the wall. Now she was going to be stuck inside the cell for even longer. She was supposed to be able to tolerate confinement—it had been part of her S.H.I.E.L.D. training—but this was exhausting. 

At least she had time to think about her escape plan. 

Well, she could think about the lack of an escape plan. Before she could come up with a good one she had to see the building again. 

So she tried to think of other things, but her mind kept circling back to Hunter. Because he was the reason she was so desperate to escape. Because it’s a lot to think someone is dead and then to learn that they aren’t, not really. 

Thinking about him, though, was beginning to irritate her. She didn’t need to spend all her time with him constantly on her mind. All she could think about was seeing him again, and she kept picturing his face, and being in love was seriously beginning to annoy her. She was thinking about Hunter so much that she was pretty sure by now that if she saw him again she would murder him instead of something more appropriate. Like kissi—arghh. Bobbi groaned and let her head fall back. God, her mind was turning into a lovestruck teenager from a dystopian novel. The sensible part of her was screaming. 

As she considered the conflict ensuing in her head, she became more and more distracted. When she heard someone say her name, she almost jumped in surprise. Looking up, she saw Dr. Grey—no. She saw Melinda May. 

“May?” she asked in disbelief, convinced that her mind was playing tricks on her. May nodded brusquely.

“We only have a few minutes. Do you have any idea how to break this barrier?” 

“I’m pretty sure that it uses the same tech as us. There should be a tablet you can use to bring the barrier down. The woman carrying it will be young, British, with short blonde hair.” May nodded again and relayed the information into the radio she held in one hand. A few moments later, Daisy burst in, breathing hard, tablet held in her hands.

“Heard you were looking for this?” she said, before pressing a few buttons. The barrier fell, letting Bobbi out. 

“Alright. We have an escape route. We have a Quinjet on the roof, and Coulson and Mack are somewhere else in the building. I’ll tell them to get there, and that we have you.” Bobbi shook her head. 

“No, there’s something else we need to do first. There are three children in this building who we need to rescue. I know where one of them is—not sure about the other two—and I can take you there. Also, Hunter is dead.” Daisy’s mouth dropped open, and May looked about as shocked as May could look.

“Oh my god, Bobbi, I’m so sor—” 

“It’s not at bad as it seems. We need to focus on the kids.” Daisy stared at her.

“Bobbi, did you just say it’s not as bad as it seems? I think you need therapy.” 

“No, I’m fine. It’s a long story, but apparently, I’m not actually from this reality and so that means that the Hunter I know is probably still alive. And we need to get going.”

“Wait, but—” 

“Daisy!”May cut her off and turned to Bobbi. “You’re going to explain this later, Bobbi.” Bobbi nodded. “Now, lead us to the kid. Kids.” 

She handed Bobbi an ICER, and Bobbi led them out of the room. 

It took her a few tries, but eventually, they came to the door that Bobbi recognized. There was just one small problem. The multiple locking mechanisms.

Daisy lifted an arm and blasted the door off its hinges. “What next?” 

“We’ll need the tablet.” Daisy nodded and before Bobbi could say anything else, ran off to get it. She came back a minute later with a new collection of bruises and a nasty gash on her arm. May gave her a concerned look, but she waved it off. 

“I’ll be fine.” Daisy pressed the same buttons as before. Nothing happened. She fiddled with it for a moment, and then pressed the buttons again. The barrier came down, and there was Lira. 

“Mama!” she cheered, and Bobbi prepared herself. Maybe she didn’t know Lira very well, but the kid did seem to have a penchant for hurling herself at Bobbi every time she was close. She did exactly that, and Bobbi picked her up, resting her on her hip. Daisy and May looked at each other, and then at Lira, who was smiling widely at both of them.

“Hi, Auntie May! Hi Auntie Daisy!” 

“I’m sorry, what?” May asked. 

“It’s a long story. As I said, I’ll explain later,” she turned to Lira, ”Hey, you’re going to have to be quiet for me, ok? No talking until I say so.” Lira pressed her lips together and nodded at Bobbi. “Good girl. Now,” she said to May and Daisy, “We have to find the others.” They nodded, and the four of them set off, Bobbi still carrying Lira.

Daisy quaked every locked door they came across. Most of them were just storage closets, and there was the occasional lab full of terrified scientists. Lira did a good job of not talking.

“Why has nobody attacked us yet?” Bobbi wondered. 

“Coulson and Mack are taking care of that,” May responded.

They continued, and eventually, they came to a door that when quaked open, revealed another one of the barriers. Daisy cursed.

“I forgot to bring the tablet thing! I’m forgetting everything, god. Give me one second.” She left and, a few minutes later, came back limping. “Yup, I really need to stop forgetting this thing. Ok. Here goes.” She did something with the tablet, looking up every so often, and then finally the barrier first turned transparent and then came down. Behind it stood two kids looking quite shocked. A boy and a girl that Bobbi recognized from the pictures Yvette had shown her. Isabelle and Ben.

“Mom?” Isabelle breathed, staring at Bobbi like she had three heads. Ben was staring at her too, mouth open. He looked like he was trying to form a coherent thought.

“We… but… I… you _ died _ . I  _ watched _ it,” he finally sputtered out. Bobbi looked behind her, at the door. 

“Bobbi, we need to go,” May said, and then addressed the two kids. “Everything will be explained to you later. But right now you need to listen to me and Bobbi without any questions. This is a dangerous situation for children and I will not have your deaths on my hands. Got it?” Both kids nodded quickly, and Bobbi shot May a silent thank you. 

May took the lead from there, leading them up flights of stairs and past hallways. Isabelle and Ben were in the middle, followed by Daisy with her arm stretched out and Bobbi carrying a child and a gun (in separate hands, of course). They didn’t run into anyone, though, until they were close to the roof. Yvette and the two guards who had been with her when Bobbi had discovered Hunter’s body were standing just before the roof. 

“Agent Morse, this is ri—” Bobbi stepped forward and ICEd her before she could continue. Daisy quickly took out the guards behind her, and they climbed the final flight of stairs to the roof. 

They boarded the Quinjet, and May went into the cockpit. Coulson and Mack were waiting for them. They both looked a little surprised by the three children added to the group, but they said anything. 

“Can I talk now, Mama?” Lira asked suddenly.

“Sure,” Bobbi told her. Mack looked at Lira.

“So, Bobbi, that’s… what did you call her? Oh, Lira?” 

“Yeah.” Lira beamed at Mack.

“Hi, Uncle Mack!” 

Mack raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t explain the multiverse theory to a five-year-old, Mack.” 

Lira squirmed out of Bobbi’s arms and ran over to Mack, hugging his leg. Mack looked down at her, shrugged, and scooped her up, letting her talk his ear off. Bobbi shot him a grateful look, before looking to Coulson.

“How did you find me so quickly?”

“It was a complicated process,” Coulson said, “But it mostly involved Daisy and FitzSimmons, so you’d have to ask them.” Bobbi turned to Daisy to ask, but Daisy didn’t let her.

“I think you said you’d give some explanations.” She gestured towards Ben and Isabelle. 

“Yep. Okay. How do I do this?” 

“Start with how you’re even alive, maybe? And also when you became the type of person who—” Ben started.

“If you haven’t been standing up during take-off before, I suggest you sit down!” May called from up in the cockpit. Everyone sat down.

“Well, here’s the thing,” Bobbi started, “you aren’t in the right place. You’re from an alternate reality. So I look like your mother, and genetically I am, but I’m not the woman who raised you.” 

“Are you serious?” Isabelle exclaimed.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sure.” 

“What’s happening?” Ben said.

“Well, we don’t really—”

“No, I mean what’s happening to your arm?” 

Bobbi looked down at her arm. It was… wow. It was disappearing, little by little. “Well, that’s never happened before.” Suddenly there was an odd tugging sensation in her stomach. “Does anybody else feel weird?” Ben and Isabelle both nodded, looking terrified. Bobbi looked closer at the two of them and noticed they were also disappearing. “Stay calm, I’m—”

“Stay calm? Stay  _ calm? _ I am slowly disappearing and I am in a different universe! I’m not going to stay calm!” Isabelle burst out. 

“Oooh, my arm’s gone,” said Lira, and Bobbi looked over to her in horror.

“This isn’t good. This is bad. There are literally no S.H.I.E.L.D. protocols for this,” Daisy stressed. 

“Calm down, Daisy. Everybody just needs to calm down. I’m sure everything will—” she didn’t get to say turn out fine because the tugging in her stomach intensified and everything went black and then she was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and leave kudos! (actually it's chapter 13, I'm not sure I need to say that anymore XD)   
> Give kudos to Bobbi, who managed to carry a five year with one arm and also ICE people.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update! I finished season 7 and I was mourning.  
> How are you guys?  
> I'm going to put this fic on hiatus because I'm a little out of it and I'm having trouble writing this story, so sorry about that. I will write other stuff though! And I may or may not come back to this eventually

With a jolt, Bobbi was back in the Quinjet, completely visible. Except everyone was gone, replaced by a woman that Bobbi didn’t recognize. The woman pulled out an ICER and trained it on Bobbi. 

“Where did you come from?” she asked, in accented English. The three kids appeared behind her suddenly, and the woman whipped around, turning back to Bobbi when she noticed they were just kids. “What’s going on?” 

“I’m not sure. Who are you?” Bobbi said, and then looked down to find that her ICER was still there. She grabbed it and pointed it at the woman. 

“Woah, woah, put the gun down,” the woman cautioned. Bobbi let out a derisive laugh. 

“Yeah, no. You’re pointing an ICER at me. I’m returning the favor.” 

“How did you even get that? They are S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons, you shouldn’t have one.” 

The woman looked closer at Bobbi, inspecting her and her eyes widened.

“You’re the Mockingbird,” she exclaimed, pulling a radio from her belt and speaking into it. “I have the Mockingbird. I repeat, the Mockingbird is on the Zephyr. What are my orders, Director?” There was a crackling noise, and Bobbi heard a familiar voice from the other side say,

“ICE her.” The blue bullet hit her swiftly before she had time to pull the trigger on her ICER. The world went black, for the second time that day.

When she woke up, she was lying on a hard metal table. She tried to sit up and promptly banged her head hard on the glass she hadn’t noticed. Rubbing her head, she searched for a way to escape the glass pod. 

“Don’t bother trying. That’s bulletproof glass.” Bobbi spun around as fast as she could, and saw a woman in the corner facing away from her, doing something she couldn’t quite make out.

“Simmons?” Simmons turned around to look at Bobbi, her face cold. She walked over and pressed a few buttons on the table next to Bobbi, and suddenly the glass case was tall enough for her to sit up in.

“Yes?” 

“What’s happening? I was in the Quinjet, and then there was this woman I didn’t reco—” 

“Elena,” Simmons cut her off, “she joined a little while after you left.” Bobbi stared at Simmons in confusion.

“After I...left?” Simmons nodded curtly. 

“Yes. Now, why exactly are you here?” 

“I don’t _know_ , Simmons!” Bobbi shouted. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I’m pretty sure this is exactly what Dr. Khan meant when she was talking about side effects,” she added, more to herself. 

“Dr. Khan?” The thought of Dr. Khan made Bobbi think about the three kids, and she was seized with panic.

“And where are my kids?” 

“You mean the children you manipulated into believing that you were their mother? They’re safe,” Simmons answered.

“Where are they, Jemma Simmons?” Bobbi said, threats beginning to circulate in the back of her mind. If Simmons did not let her out this instant, if Simmons didn’t tell her where the kids were, then goddammit, she was going to—

“That’s not something you need to know, Morse. And it will do you well to remember that everyone here has changed in the past four years. We didn’t freeze the minute you ran away.” 

“ _What?_ Simmons, just tell me what you’re talking about.” 

“You want to know what I’m talking about? How about this. A few years ago, you decided that working for S.H.I.E.L.D was too difficult for you, so you left in the middle of the night. A few weeks later, all the media can talk about is a mysterious vigilante called the Mockingbird. Sound familiar?” 

“Hold on a minute. What year is it?” 

“2020.” 

“Oh my god. I did it.”

Simmons turned around to grab something from a shelf, but Bobbi could swear she saw her roll her eyes. “Yes, I know.” 

“No, I’m in an alternate reality, Simmons. I was in a different reality before, and this is a new one.” 

Simmons raised an eyebrow. “You expect me to belie— actually, that’s more believable than it should be. Explain.” 

So Bobbi told Simmons the whole story, from the nightmare that first night to M.I.R.R.O.R. to here. Simmons nodded along.

“Well, Bobbi, there’s no real guarantee that you’re in the correct timeline. However, I’ll take a blood sample and do some testing to see what I can find out. Sound good?” Bobbi nodded. “Alright. Have you still got that aversion to needles?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Would you like me to ICE you again while I do it so you don’t need to see it?” 

“No, I— I need to get over it sometime. Why not now.” Simmons grabbed everything she needed from around the small med bay and brought it over to Bobbi, pressing another button that made the glass recede. 

Bobbi still screwed her eyes shut like a child getting a shot at the doctor’s when Simmons brought out the needle and carefully slipped it into her arm to draw the blood. Just as Simmons finished, she heard footsteps echoing behind her.

“Oh. You’re awake. Er, Simmons, Mack said to tell you we’re meeting in fifteen.” Bobbi twisted around quickly, unable to help the huge smile on her face. Hunter was standing just inside the door, and suddenly she didn’t care whether or not this was her reality. Hunter was alive here. Of course she was going to stay.

Simmons yelped. “Bobbi! Turn around! I need to take out the needle or I’ll accidentally drain all your blood!” Bobbi turned back around to Simmons.

“Sorry, Simmons. You’d need a lot more time to drain all my blood, though.” 

“True. Anyway, Hunter, will you ask if we can meet here? We need to discuss some stuff, and Bobbi should be there.” Hunter nodded and left the room as fast as he could. Simmons gave her a sympathetic look. “Bobbi, pretty much everybody is not going to be happy with you. Hunter especially. You hurt everyone— well, I’m not entirely certain who that was, but it’s going to take them a little while to understand. I believe you, though. Know that.” Bobbi gave her a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Simmons. And the kids?” 

“I’ll go get them after we have this discussion, alright?” 

“Yeah.” 

Fifteen minutes later, the team walked in, with a varying degree of expressions on their faces. There was a man Bobbi didn’t recognize who just looked confused. 

Meanwhile, May was flat out glaring at Bobbi.

“Simmons, what is this about?” May asked, still looking at Bobbi with contempt obvious in her eyes. But then she looked closer at Bobbi, looked thoughtful for a moment, and murmured, “Interesting.” 

“I don’t entirely—” Suddenly Daisy pulled a gun out and trained it on Bobbi.

“No one’s checked if she’s a chronicom yet, Simmons! Why did you let her out?” Bobbi blinked.

“A what?” 

“Put the gun down, Daisy! I drew some of her blood, she’s a human.” 

“Fine,” Daisy grumbled and put the gun down.

“Alright. Long story short, last time I checked I was in the year 2015. Somehow I switched realities. I—”

“I can’t do this,” Hunter interrupted. “You _hurt_ us, Morse. You can’t just come back with a carefully fabricated lie and expect us to believe it.” 

“No, Hunter, I—”

“Stop it. Fucking stop it. You can’t just abandon us and come back with some bullshit excuse as to why. You’re lying. That’s what you always do. _And I don’t want to hear it._ Go destroy a city or whatever it is you do now.” He stormed off, leaving Bobbi feeling the same way she always did after Hunter said something like that. Awful and guilty and like her heart was being ripped to pieces. She hadn’t even done anything, this time.

“Didn’t Nana say you had kids with you?” The unfamiliar man asked, breaking the awkward silence. 

“Yeah. In the reality I was in, they had been kidnapped by an organization called M.I.R.R.O.R. They’re from other alternate realities. Oh, and genetically, they’re my kids. Mine and… mine and Hunter’s.” 

Bobbi could swear that she heard May mutter, “That’ll be one hell of a custody battle.” Mack looked over to May, and then back to Bobbi.

“I want to believe you, Bobbi. But if I’m being honest, you don’t have the greatest track record. You’ll have to convince it somehow.”

“She’s telling the truth,” May said abruptly, “I can tell. She’s so confused that it’s starting to confuse me.” The others all nodded as if that was a completely normal thing to say. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“It’s a long story,” Daisy said in lieu of an explanation, “and we’ll tell it once you’ve told us everything.” 

So Bobbi took a deep breath and, for the second time that day, explained absolutely everything that she knew about her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Top Four Reasons I Love Huntingbird (more than FitzSimmons, please don't kill me)  
> 1\. The frickin' chemistry is off the charts my god  
> 2\. They're so dramatic and I love it  
> 3\. Huntingbird is a badass ship name  
> 4\. They're both so attractive and as a Chaotic Bi I cannot help myself


End file.
